I did a terrible thing yesterday. Awful.
I got up at 6.00am to go for a walk around deck 7. As is my custom, I went down to the International Cafe on level 5 for a pre-walk coffee. There is some evidence that a coffee prior to exercise opens up your arteries. Or something like that.
So I ordered my first unlimited brewed coffee for the day, collected it and went to sit down.
Then a horrible thing happened. As I went to sit down I felt my phone falling out of my pocket and I reacted … and spilled about one third of my coffee all over the table and floor.
Now I know that it’s unlimited, which means that I can just go and get another.
But we all know that unlimited coffee isn’t truly unlimited. I mean, at some point it will run out.
It’s not possible for there to be an unlimited supply of coffee. So me spilling my coffee inevitably means that there will be that much less for someone else.
I was devastated.
But the show must go on, so I cleaned up my mess and drank my remaining two thirds and had a punishing 45 minute walk around deck 7. In the cold.
I made an error the other day too.
I said that it was very, very cold. 2 very’s as I recall. But I was wrong.
In the overall scheme of things, the other day was balmy.
Yesterday was cold. Very, very, very cold. Maybe even very, very, very, very cold.
Bitterly cold. Much colder than the other day.
Cold enough to freeze the you-know-what’s off a brass monkey.
Which funnily enough – as I understand it – is a nautical expression, and not rude at all.
But I digress.
Yesterday we were in Glacier National Park. It was really cold. I might have mentioned that already.
I felt like a Sara Lee pastry. I was wearing layer upon layer upon layer.
Underwear, then thermals, then jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt. A hoodie. And a heavy jacket. Plus a beanie and a scarf. Then there is that extra layer of fat that I seem to be carrying around.
It certainly made going to the bathroom far more complicated than usual.
So yesterday we sailed into Glacier Bay National Park.
I can’t even begin to explain how amazing and spectacular it is … so here are some photos.
Even the pictures don’t really give you an idea of how spectacular or beautiful it is. Or cold.
I suppose that, by definition, for all of that ice to float around in the water and not melt quickly, it’s cold.
We spent the day sailing into various parts of the park with commentary from a National Parks ranger.
Looking at glaciers which are absolutely amazing.
TOTIL and I had some puzzling conversations yesterday.
8.30 (after a big breakfast): Do you think we should skip lunch today?
10.00 (going for coffee): Do you think we’ve put on weight?
10.15 (at coffee): Did you want to see if they have any of those chocolate donuts left?
10.17 (As I’m returning with a chocolate donut): Why did you only get one?
11.45: Did you want to get an early lunch?
2.45: Did you want to go to high tea?
5.15: Did you want to have an early dinner?
All this eating. They will be wheeling me off the ship like cargo 🙁
The other interesting thing in the park is the sea otters. These little critters were virtually extinct from hunting for their pelts several years ago, but now they estimate there are about 9000 in the park.
They are elusive little beggars though.
We were told that there are are also black bears living in the forest, and while I’m sure they are there, we didn’t see any.
I think I heard that they get about 90 inches of rain here annually – about 225cm or 2.25 metres. As you can see from the photos, only blue skies this week.
We sailed out of the national park around dinner time and are now sailing towards our next port of Skagway.
Forecast for tomorrow is cold again – 10 degrees C – so I’d better not pack the thermals away just yet.
More soon.
Ciao
#G&KTAKEUSA